Train-control apparatus.



H. G; SEDGWICK TRAIN CONTROL APPARATUS.

APPLICATION flLED APR. 29. I913.

Patented May 22, 191 7.

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anvemtoz H. G. SEDGWICK.

TRAIN CONTROL APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29,1913.

' 1,226,916. Patented May 22,1917.

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H. G. SEDGWICK.

TRAIN CONTROL APPARATUS,

APPLICATION FILED APR.29. 1913.

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Patented May 22, 1917.

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l/windows I 8% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HIBAM G. SEDGWICK, 0F MILL VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL SAFETY APPLIANCE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

TRAIN-CONTROL APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1917.

Original application filed May 14, 1910, Serial No. 561,486. Divided and this application filed April 29, 1913.

- Serial No. 764,406.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM G. SEDGWIGK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mill Valley, in the county of Marin and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Train-Control Apparatus, of which the following is a full and clear specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view in diagram of the road bed circuits, showing their arrangement with respect to the adjacent ends of two blocks;

Fig. 2 an enlarged diagram of the circuits at one end of a block;

Fig. 3 a vertical sectional View, partly in side elevation, showing the motor for setting the semaphore and operating the tripper;

Fig. 4: a front elevation of the motor, showing the tripper mechanism in vertical section;

Fig. 5 a vertical section of the tripper in safety position, taken on a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 4c;

Fig. 6 a diagram showing modified form of the road bed circuits.

Referring to the road bed devices, block 1 is divided from block 2 in the usual way by insulated joints a, and connected to each block is the usual normally closed track circuit Z) which includes the usual track relay 0 whose armature lever (Z normally connects the two contacts 6 of the motor circuit f, this armature lever being as usual normally drawn away from the contacts 6 by a suitable spring so that when the circuit 12 is weakened by the entrance of a railway vehicle on the block the relay 0 will be denergized and the motor circuit will be broken and thus prevent the setting of the semaphore to safety by a train entering the preempted block.

The motor circuit also includes two additional pairs of contact plates 9 and h which are normally closed by two levers i and j, the lever 71 being adapted to coact with a magnet is and the lever 7' being adapted to coact with two magnets Z and m, the former of which is in the motor circuit.

The motor n is mounted upon apendent swinging frame '0 which is loosely swung from a shaft 2) journaled in a frame 9, the

upper ends of the uprights of the frame 0 being connected by a sleeve 7 which surrounds and is rockable upon said shaft p. Upon one of the standards 9 is a rack bar 8 whose teeth face downwardly and which is curved on a radius struck from the center of the shaft 7). This rack bar is geared up to the motor by a suitable train of gearing t so that when the motor is actuated the action of the gearing on the rack bar will result in swinging the motor frame upwardly until the point is reached where the motor circuit is broken, whereupon the motor will be stopped and the motor frame will drop back to a vertical position by its own weight.

As the motor frame swings upwardly, it is caused to rotate the shaft 79 through the medium of a pin a fastened to the shaft and working in a slot in the sleeve r. As the shaft 79 rotates it swings downwardly an arm 4; carried by it and said arm strikes against a finger to on the upper end of the gravitating lever z and swings said lever on its pivot so that its depending portion moves off the contact plates 9 and thus breaks the motor circuit. As the arm '0 swings downwardly another finger m on the upper end of the lever i engages over the upper side of said arm and serves to lock the arm against rising again so long as the armature arm 2' is held up by the magnet is, which magnet is in a normally closed road bed circuit hereinafter described. In this way the motor is permitted to drop back to normal position while the shaft 1) is locked in its rocked position. The rocking of the shaft 7) swings upwardly an arm y carried thereby and connected to the semaphore operating rod 2, this rod 2 preferably carrying a weight a and being adapted when raised its full limit to set the semaphore b to safety position as shown in dotted lines, this semaphore being normally held at danger by a tail weight 0. When the shaft 72 is released by the deenergizing of magnet is, the armi gravitates back to its normal position on the contact plates 9, and the'shaft p is permitted to return to its normal position, which is that shown in Fig. 3, the gravity of the semaphore operating rod 2 and its weight at, or any other suitable means, being utilized to thus restore the shaft 7) to its normal position.

The shaft 7) has an extension 72* which, as shown in Fig. 4, extends to a point near the side of the rail and is connected to the main part of the shaft by a universal joint 6*. This extension of the shaft is journaled in a sleeve 6 and is provided at its extreme outer end with a pinion f. The sleeve is journaled in a suitable bearing on the road bed and has a limited rocking motion independently of the shaft 79* and it is resiliently held against rotation by a suitable spring device, the device shown consisting of a pair of springs 9 connected at their outer ends to a stationary part of the road bed and at their inner ends to an upright lug h on the sleeve.

On the extreme outer end of the sleeve 6 is mounted the tripper, which consists of a hollow upward-extending arm or casing a" in which is inclosed the aforesaid pinion f. This pinion engages a rack bar j extending upwardly through the upper end of the easing 2' and rigidly attached to a hood-like nose piece 72, the depending rim of this hood having a telescopic engagement with the upper end of easing i. The spring Z interposed between the top of arm-like casing a" and the hood-like extension tends normally to raise the hood and to rotate the shaft 79* p. The spring Z normally holds up the nose of the tripper in a normal danger position, that is, in a position where it will be struck by the brush or contact on the vehicle unless it be drawn down to safety position. It will thus be observed that this spring Z tends to return the shaft 7) to its normal position when released from the locking finger as and thus aid the force of gravity in the return of the parts promptly to normal position. lVith this construction of tripper, it will be observed that whether it be at danger or at safety, the shock caused by the striking of the brush on the locomotive or any other part carried by a moving vehicle on the track will be taken up entirely by the springs g and not be transmitted to any of the mechanism for operating the parts. The springs g or their equivalent serve to hold the tripper arm normally vertical and to permit it to have a limited resilient swing action in either direction, as is evident.'

The road bed circuits are as follows: At a suitable distance from each end of each block, say one thousand feet, there is located two pairs of short rail sections A and B, and about half way from the point to the adjacent end of the block is another group of insulated rail sections C C and D, and each one of these pairs of insulated short rail sections is connected electrically by an open battery-andmagnet circuit so that upon passage of a railway vehicle each of these circuits will be completed by the-wheels and axle of the vehicle and will energize its magnet. In the first one of these circuits the magnet attracts an armature m, and thus opens a normally closed circuit a which extends to the place of location of the motor and includes the aforesaid magnet 71/ and a pair of contact plates 0 which are normally connected by the armature (Z of the track relay 0. The magnet between the rail sections B when energized will attract an armature p and thus close a shunt circuit 9 connected with the circuit a. The magnet between the rail section 0 attracts an armature 1 and thereby closes a circuit 8 which extends to the place of location of the motor and includes the before-described magnet on,

so that when this circuit a is closed the armature will be attracted by magnet m, and thus close the motor circuit across the contact plates it, so that the motor will be started if the motor circuit be closed at its two other open points, namely, at the contact plates 9 and the contacts 6.

The magnet t" between the rail sections D attracts an armature u and opens a branch o of the circuit 8. The magnet to which is in the circuit connecting rails C is located between the rails D adjacent to the magnet t and nearer to the free end of the swinging armature u, so that the said magnet w shall actuate the armature lever u but, by reason of being of lesser strength than magnet t or by being located, as shown, farther away from the pivot of armature lever a, this magnet w will not of itself attract leverarmature u but will serve simply to hold it after magnet t has attracted it and the cir- I'- cuit of magnet t has been broken.

Assuming a train or a railway vehicle passmg from left to right: when the train first entered block 1 at the distant end not shown, it weakened circuit 1) and thus allowed the spring to draw armature (Z away from track relay 0, thus opening the motor circuit at e and circuit n at 0 in block 2, thereby maintaining the semaphore and the tripper in that block at normal danger. As the train passes over short rails A, circuit n in block 1' will be broken, so that if by the act of a mischievous or evil disposed person or by accident the magnet 7': is holding the motor and semaphore at safety, the parts will be released and be restored to normal danger. As the vehicle passes over rails B, armature 19 will be attracted and branch 9' will be closed but no result will follow from this when the train is going, as we have assumed, toward the end of block 1. By the time the train reaches rails c, the parts at the semaphore have had time to restore themselves to normal danger, as described, if they were wrongly at safety. As the train passes over rails C no action occurs as magnet 10 has not suflicient energy tov attract armature u but upon passing over rails C, the attraction of armature 7" closes circuit 8 and thus attracts armature j and closes the normallyopen motor-circuit ath, and this motor circuit is held closed during the action of the motor by magnet Z which is itself in the motor circuit. The rails C are far enough from the end of the block to permit the motor to set the semaphore at safety and the tripper at safety before, the train reaches the same. The action of the train on rails C and D produces no effect when the train is going in the direction we have assumed.

When a train enters block 1 at the right hand end, it first causes branch o to be broken by the attraction of armature u and thus prevents circuit .9 being closed when the train passes onto rails G, and before the wheels of the vehicle have passed off rails D the next forward pair of wheels has passed onto rails C and thus energized magnet w, so that after magnet 16 has been deenergized the magnet to will hold branch o open until the last pair of wheels passes off the rails C. In this way, a train going toward the left can produce no effect upon armature j and thus cannot close the motor circuit at h. The rails G are shorter than the shortest wheel base of railway vehicles that run on the system, so that by no possibility could a railway vehicle pass over this group of short rail sections without pro tecting the magnet 071. against abortive energization. When the train reaches rail sections B the branch 9 will be closed and held closed until the last wheels of the train pass onto rails A, whereupon branch 9 will open, and when the train passes onto rails A the circuit a will be opened and held open until the train passes off the rails A. The passage of the train over these two rail sections A and B thus going to the left will cause no actuation of the parts at the semaphore and motor unless the same train had previously passed over the rail section C in going in the other direction (thereby operating the motor and bringing the parts to safety positions) and had stopped before reaching the end of the block and was then in the act of backing out, in which case this backing out of the train would restore the parts to normal danger, but only after the last wheels on the train had passed off the sections B. The employment of these short rail sections A and B and the locating of them at a distance, say five hundred feet or more or the length approximately of the longest train from the other group of short rail sections, is especially advantageous in connection with work trains which, as is well known, are frequently compelled to run backwardly and forwardly a number of times in a single block without once leaving it, so that it is necessary to hold the tripper and the semaphore at danger at all times except when the train is just about to enter the block next ahead. It will be observed that it is desirable and probably essential to locatethe short rail sections A and B a trainslength from the other group of short rail sections in order that even with the longest trains each group shall completely operate before the next group is reached, and it is also probably essential that the second group of short rails C C and D shall be located a considerable distance (say a trains length) from the end of the block so that the motor shall have ample time to bring the tripper and the semaphore to safety before the locomotive passes the same and enters the next block.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that many changes may be made in the electrical devices on the road bed without departing from the invention in the least. In Fig. (3 I have shown one obvious modification. In this system the local circuit at each one of the short rail sections except C is a normally closed circuit instead of a normally open circuit as in Figs. 1 and 2. In this Fig. 6 therefore the passage of a pair of wheels over the short rail sections except the section C will denergize instead of energize the local relay magnet and release the armature instead of actuating it. The release of the armature between rail sections A will open the circuit a, the release of the armature between rail sections B will close the branch 9, the release of the armature between rail sections G will open circuit 8 and the release of the armature between rail sections D will'close branch 4). This arrangement will need no modification of the motor controlling devices'except as regards the magnets Z and m. These magnets will be arranged at opposite sides of the armature lever j so that when'the magnet m is denergized by the opening of circuit 8 armature y' will be released and be drawn over by its spring toward the motor circuit magnet Z and thus complete the motor circuit, upon which completion of the motor circuit the magnet Z will be energized and will hold the motor circuit closed, as in the other form of apparatus, until the contact lever breaks the motor circuit. In other respects this system operates practically the same as the system shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be understood that inasmuch as certain features of the present invention are applicable to railway signaling devices proper or to train stopping mechanisms, or to both as shown and described, I have refrained from limiting some of my claims in this respect by employing the broad expression road bed appliances, by which term I wish to cover any and all road bed appliances which are adapted to actuate an audible or visual signal or any means for actuating a signaling or train stopping means on the railway vehicle.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a road bed block-systemfor railway signaling and stopping, an electric motor for operating the road bed appliances, train controlled electromagnetic devices in the ad j acent block for closing the motor circuit by a train going in one direction, adjacent means on the road bed for preventing a train going in the opposite direction from actuating the same, means within the circuit for holding it closed during actuation of the motor, means operated by the motor for opening the motor circuit when the motor has completed its operation, and restoring mechanism connected with the next block.

In a road bed block-system for railway signaling and stopping, an electric motor for operating the road bed appliances, means actuated by the motor for opening the motor circuit when the motor has completedits actuation, means connected with the adjacent block for closing the motor circuit upon the passage of a railway vehicle, means connected With the adjacent block at a point farther from the end of the block than the aforesaid means for holding open the motor circuit when it is broken by the motor itself these means embodying devices which upon the passage of a train toward the end of the block will again close the motor circuit, for the purpose set forth. I

In a mechanism for actuating a road bed appliance, an electric motor, a pivotally depending frame carrying the motor, and means whereby when the motor is actuated said depending frame will be swung upwardly until the motor circuit is broken.

4-. In the means for operating railway road bed appliances, a pendant swinging frame carrying an electric motor, means whereby the actuation of the motor swings said frame upwardly on its pivot and thus actua-tes the road bed appliances, means whereby at a predetermined point in its upward swing the motor circuit is broken and the motor carrying frame is permitted to swing'back to its normal position.

5. In means for actuating roadbed appliances, a pendant pivotal frame carrying an electric motor, means whereby the upward swing of said frame actuates the said road bed appliances, means whereby the actuation of the motor swings said frame upwardly toward a horizontal position, means whereby the railway appliances are looked after actuation and the motor circuit is broken, whereby the roadbed appliances are locked in their adjusted positions and the motor carrying frame is allowed to swing downwardly to normal position.

6. In means for actuating road bed appliances, a pendant pivotal frame carrying an electric motor, means whereby the upward swing of said frame actuates the said road bed appliances, means whereby the actuation of the motor swings said frame upwardly toward a horizontal position, means whereby the railway appliances are looked.

after actuation and the motor circuit is broken, whereby the road bed appliances are locked in their adjusted positions and the motor carrying frame is allowed to swing downwardly to normal position and means connected with an adjacent part of the road bed for releasing the locked parts and permitting them to be restored to nor mal positions. In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HIRAM G. SEDGWICK. Witnesses:

F. C. ANKnRs, LUOILE B. MoCoNABA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

